h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've always found it really hard to explain to Americans that 'B******s' means something bad, whereas 'The Dog's B******s' is something very good....

Odd folks the Americans. I've heard them trying to explain why they call the 'Toilet' the bathroom, when it doesn't contain a bath.

When the toilet in question is a public convenience, or one of the ones at work, I would agree that it is illogical. However, in my house, and in at least 99% of the houses I've visited (I'm English, born and bred, by the way), the toilet IS in the bathroom. In such cases the reference is understandable. OK, so some people have more than one loo, one of which will be in a separate room. However, this is not the norm amongst the people I know.

Well thats a relief I thought I was the only person that only had one loo (in the bathroom),every one I know has at least two ant a lot have three, the third being in the ensuite

I would love to live in a house that was big enough to have en-suite facilities. Mind you, even then the toilet is still in a bathroom, if you want to be really pedantic.

Most of the people I know with an ensuite don't have a bath in the ensuite but a shower cause the room isn't big enough for a bath. It would be nice to have a second loo let alone the ensuite facility.

I'll second that. My husband makes a habit of taking a book or magazine into the bathroom with him and staying there for ages. If I'm lucky he'll ask me if I need to go before he disappears in there. Often, though, I have to hammer on the door to get him to come out!

Forgot to mention, I was using the term 'bathroom' loosely, in the sense of 'a room in which one bathes/washes' rather than 'a room with a bath in it'.